With the UAW strike resolved, 1972 sales soared to 48,900 units, hitting nearly 56,000 in 1973, the best the Toronado would ever do. A 1972 Popular Mechanics owners survey suggested that buyers appreciated the Toronado’s Cadillac-like lines; for the first time, styling edged out front-wheel drive as the Toronado’s key selling point. The Toronado may also have captured a few Buick customers who were displeased with the controversial new Riviera. While the Riviera outsold the Toronado in 1971, the situation was reversed for the little-changed ’72 and ’73 models. The Toronado had finally found its commercial groove.

The louvers on the top of the 1971 Oldsmobile Toronado’s decklid exhaust interior air; they disappeared in 1972, when Olds adopted concealed vents in the doors, similar to the contemporary Riviera. The slots on either side of the bulge are brake lamps, analogous to the center high-mounted stop light (CHMSL) later required by federal safety regulations.

Other than discreet badges on the front fenders, the only really obvious sign of the Toronado’s front-wheel drive was its flat floor, lacking even the vestigial hump common to modern FWD cars. The V-shaped dashboard looks similar to the one in the contemporary Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight, with little of the early Toronado’s sporty flair. The instrument panel has few instruments — the only actual gauges are the speedometer and fuel gauge. (This car’s star decals are obviously not stock.)

AIRBAGS AND XS

In the fall of 1973, the Oldsmobile Toronado gained another technological distinction, becoming one of the first American production cars to be offered with driver- and passenger-side airbags. With federal requirements for passive restraint in the offing, GM had told the Department of Transportation back in 1970 that it would introduce airbags as an option and then make them standard for the 1975 model year. Although the auto industry succeeded in delaying implementation of the federal requirement originally slated to take effect for the 1972 model year, GM installed airbags in 1,000 1973 Chevrolet Impalas for fleet customers. The “Air Cushion Restraint System” became a regular production option for the 1974 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight, Ninety-Eight, and Toronado, the Buick Electra 225 and Riviera, and most Cadillac models. The first car off the line with the ACRS was a 1974 Oldsmobile Toronado.

The components of the Air Cushion Restraint System. The option weighed about 60 lb (27 kg) in all. In 1974, it cost around $225, rising to about $400 in 1976, its final year. (Image copyright 2010 General Motors LLC. Used with permission, GM Media Archive.)

Even before the option went on sale, GM had scaled back its plans for airbag installation and the ACRS never became standard equipment. The airbags worked — a 1982 report by the University of Michigan School of Public Health found that the number of deaths and serious injuries in ACRS-equipped cars was even lower than projected — but the option was not heavily promoted and take-up was limited. In all, the airbags only went into about 11,000 cars, which we assume includes the early Impala fleet cars. GM finally canceled the option in 1976, citing low demand and the need to redesign the system for the downsized 1977 big cars. The slow-selling True-Track system was dropped at the same time, although both airbags and ABS would return a decade or so later.

Although Oldsmobile was doing very well in the seventies, sales of the second-generation Toronado suffered a serious blow following the 1973 OPEC oil embargo. With buyers suddenly shying away from big cars, it probably didn’t help that the 1974 Toronado was even more massive than before, thanks to new 5-mph (8-km/h) hydraulic bumpers; sales fell by 50%. The 1975 and 1976 models, with rectangular headlights and fashionable new opera windows, did even worse, slipping below 25,000 units for the first time since 1967. The Toronado still outsold the Riviera, despite or because of the demise of the latter’s boattail, but not the Eldorado, which remained remarkably popular throughout the seventies.

A press image of the never-released 1977 Oldsmobile Toronado XSR. The 1977 model year also introduced a new 403 cu. in. (6,598 cc) V-8 with 200 net horsepower (140 kW), down only 15 hp (10 kW) from the last 455 cu. in. (7,450 cc) engine. Since curb weight was now a ponderous 5,100 lb (2,315 kg), straight-line performance was not a Toronado strong suit, nor was fuel economy. Note the rectangular headlamps, added in 1975. (Image copyright 2010 General Motors LLC. Used with permission, GM Media Archive.)

There was brief flurry of interest in 1977 thanks to two new models, one of which didn’t quite make production. The first was the XS, which featured an unusual angular wraparound backlight, reminiscent of GM’s 1959-1960 Vista hardtops or the old Studebaker Starlight. The second model, the XSR, had a similar roof treatment, but added motorized T-tops that could partly retract into the central crossbar. Developed for Oldsmobile by the American Sunroof Corporation, the XSR appeared in some early Toronado ads and brochures, but concerns about top sealing and reliability led Oldsmobile to cancel the model after only a single prototype was built. (That car still survives today and occasionally appears at auto shows.) The slightly less ambitious XS model, with a moonroof in place of the T-tops, sold 2,713 copies in 1977 and a further 2,453 in 1978, despite a price premium of more than $2,500.

Another press image of the XSR, showing off its unusual backlight, the manufacture of which involved creasing the glass with a hot wire. With their reshaped roof pillars, the XS and XSR dispensed with the base Toronado Brougham’s opera windows, standard since 1975. Like other Toronados, the XSR was 227.5 inches (5,779 mm) long, fully 16.5 inches (419 mm) longer than the already-massive 1966 Toronado. (Image copyright 2010 General Motors LLC. Used with permission, GM Media Archive.)

Even with the downturn that followed the energy crisis, the second-generation Oldsmobile Toronado was more successful than the first, with production totaling 267,888 cars in eight model years. Still, by 1978, it had become a dinosaur. The original Toronado had more or less split the difference between the A-body Cutlass and the full-size, B-body Eighty-Eight. With GM’s downsizing of the B- and C-body cars for 1977, the Toronado was now 7.1 inches (180 mm) longer and over 800 lb (363 kg) heavier than the flagship Ninety-Eight. With steadily increasing requirements for Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), the third-generation Toronado would be significantly smaller and lighter than before.

Although the XSR was canceled shortly before production, Oldsmobile did announce its initial list price: $11,132, $448 more than the XS and nearly $3,000 more than the standard Toronado Brougham. After it was canceled, American Sunroof Corporation bought back the single prototype, hoping to sell the motorized T-top concept to another manufacturer. They were not successful and the prototype was sold to a private collector in 1982. ASC also pitched this idea to Cadillac, leading to a number of 1978 Eldorado prototypes with the same system. (Image copyright 2010 General Motors LLC. Used with permission, GM Media Archive.)

36 Comments

All that I can say is thanks for your website. I remember a couple of years ago a co worker told me that a friend of hers had driven her home in her well used Oldsmobile Trofeo. I was impressed that in it’s faded opulence this Olds was still doing sterling service.

I saw a local dealer selling an empty shell version of the motor home in the late 70’s. Then whilr driving down to Florida to watch th 24 hour race at Daytona, saw one set up as a transporter, had a roll-up door in the rear. It had a Porsche in it.

My intention is to preserve my 1977 Toronado Brougham for another 13 years and then give it to my son. It pleases me to see his appreciation for this car. It’s appraised at 98.3/100. if anyone out there comes across a front floor mat, please say so as I went and left mine in the sun and it faded! It is red. Also one hub cap has a small dent in it so… just say so if you know where I might find one.

That was a nice article, reading about “Toro’s” brought back a lot of memories. I worked as a Tech for Oldsmobile shops back in the early days, the 1967 was the first model I worked on as a current year and I worked on them to the end. I especially loved the early years with the HOT optional engines, the later ones ran like a Lead Sled. The Toro and 442 ran about even as my favorite Oldsmobile’s….

Hi Don, I worked on a number of GMC Motor homes that used the 455 Oldsmobile engine and the Toronado front drive unit but there were also several other manufactures who used the Oldsmobile FWD package to power their units. If you do a Google search for your brand and year you shouldn’t have a problem finding info about your vehicle. Cortez was another manufacture who used the Oldsmobile FWD. NASA actually used a Cortez to shuttle astronauts to the launch pad. Apparently there are still fans of the Cortez Motor home and parts are still sold by the companies owner, although no new units have been built for years. Search and you should find some info quite easily.

I had thought from the research I did that Cortez didn’t adopt the Toronado powertrain until 1970 (although I’m no expert on motor homes, so I may be wrong in that!), but I’m sure there were at least a few earlier examples, including probably some cobbled-together shade-tree jobs. The UPP concept made a lot of sense for motor homes and vans: enough torque to haul a substantial load, compact enough to not eat up interior space, and not so exotic you couldn’t get parts for most of it. I imagine the biggest obstacle to motor home use was likely the price.

I currently have a 1976 gmc motorhome at my property and would like some information on it i drove it 260 miles to my house it was sitting in storage for 3 years all i did was put a battery in it and set up a gas tank with a electric fuel pump and dtove it home

Did virtually the same thing in Sept. Bought a 1976 GMC Eleganza II in Waxahachee, Tx. Been sitting at least 2 years. Washed it, new battery, electric fuel pump and ferry tank, and 1 new tire. Fired right up, lots of smoke, then drove to Lampassas. Brother, who has 4 of them, is still working on it. Looking forward to hitting the road with it.

I redacted your phone number — I really don’t recommend posting phone numbers online (except maybe a business number that’s publicly listed online anyway) lest you get besieged by robo-callers. If you’re determined, I will put it back, but I take no responsibility for the consequences!

The Toronado died in 1986,the small 6 cylinder 1986 was grotesquely inferior to the great 1985 Toronado Caliente which was somewhat better than all the previous ones,the small one despite the gorgeous dashboard was not much more than an economy car,something affluent people disregard,it was gorgeous though compared to the contraptions being put out nowadays by all the manufacturers.
The automobile is dying worldwide.

Anyone have problems with headlights i don’t have power on my 1969 head lights. I tested. Each one. Ands works. Low beams. Have 3 point.
But one om these have ground one broke
So that affect. The service
Anyone. Can help me out. Also power windos and power seat. Problems and solutions

My husband was President of Revcon starting in 1976 and we loved the RV business and were involved with ElDorado/Honorbuilt Company from 1966-1976 when we moved to California. My family remembers being at the Dodger RV show and the Silver Bullet was a huge hit.

Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you
know a few of the pictures aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but I think
its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different browsers
and both show the same results.

Hmm, that’s very strange. I’m not experiencing that when I test it. Was the problem specific to this article, or did it occur on multiple pages?

I have encountered a problem on certain articles where the WordPress media page (not normally accessible or visible to visitors) has disappeared or somehow broken without the associated image being gone, which creates a bizarre condition where the image loads, but also throws a 404 error that appears in the log. That doesn’t appear to be happening here, though.

It may be a browser caching anomaly, where for some reason the page doesn’t completely load (due to a momentarily hiccup in the connection or browser lag), but then the browser has cached an incomplete version of that page and refuses to let go of it. That happens sometimes, and the only thing to be done about it is to clear the browser cache and try loading the page again. Since it’s a transient problem, it frequently has nothing to do with the actual page. It’s just an obnoxious side effect of the way modern browsers work.

Nice story,but you have the design history wrong. don Schomer was a fine designer,but was not on this project.
I had worked on the 66Toro with Olds chief Engineer John Belts who was then Olds Gen Manager for the 2 gen 71 Toro.
He saw a scale model Eldorado proposal I did,and had me brought back from loan to Vaxhall in England.
His first words to me were “we donot want another “sports” car like you did in66 ,think Eldorado- Lincoln
The front end I wanted a
Cord look, the two lower grills made cooling a Chalange!

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